Yankees Announcer Michael Kay Goes On Angry Rant Over NY Daily News Layoffs

Former New York Daily News staffers have a friend in Michael Kay.

YES Network’s New York Yankees announcer delivered an impassioned rant Monday afternoon on “The Michael Kay Show” on the subject of the NY Daily News layoffs. The newspaper’s Chicago-based owner, Tronc Inc., announced Monday its decision to lay off half its newsroom staff and fire editor-in-chief Jim Rich.

Tronc eliminated the jobs of 25 sports journalists, cutting the department from 34 to nine. The departures of esteemed sportswriters John Harper, Frank Isola, Mike Mazzeo, Christian Red were among the topics on which Kay, a former Daily News employee, sounded off.

Kay also called on New Yorkers to stop buying and reading the Daily News in the name of U.S. democracy.

“Who would ever buy this paper?” Kay asked. Who would ever read this paper?”

“The history of this country has been founded on the strength of a free press. And a monolith company like Tronc decides they’re gonna just completely strafe the New York Daily News staff? And New York’s gonna stand by and buy the paper? Why would you buy the paper?”

“…Don’t waste your money on this.”

Time will tell whether New Yorkers will heed Kay’s call.